After two years where she came close, third time was the charm for PV Sindhu.
World Champion, PV Sindhu.
With a stunning display of power and aggression against the 2017 gold medallist Nozomi Okuhara, star shuttler Sindhu created history in Basel on Sunday by becoming the first World Champion from India.
Sindhu needed just 38 minutes to dismantle familiar rival Okuhara with a scoreline that is scarcely believable: 21-7, 21-7.
This was a rematch of the 2017 BWF World Badminton Championships final in Glasgow, but the final itself was anything but similar to that 110-minute epic. It was a thorough dismantling of a player who is actually seeded one place higher than Sindhu. The 24-year-old gave Okuhara no breathing space as she ramped up the pressure from the word go to clinch gold.
Sindhu now has a medal of every colour at the Worlds, after having won bronze in 2013, ‘14 and then silver medals in 2016, ‘17. No other Indian had won the gold at the prestigious tournament before and Sindhu created history in some style.
She has now won five medals in all at the tournament and is responsible for 50% of India’s podium-finishes: winning five out of the country’s 10 medals till date.
Twitter was set ablaze by that performance by Sindhu. Here is a selection of the tributes that came Sindhu’s way:
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